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Bold Beginnings with Initial Letters By Allan HaleyLong before Gutenberg created the craft of typography, initial letter were used in medieval manuscripts to begin chapters and decorate pages. The Purpose of these
meticulously hand-painted letters was to raise text to the level of art. Today, initial letters are used for a similar purpose: to add beauty and/or emphasis to the beginning of a page or paragraph, or to highlight
the beginning of section of a document. What's an initial letter?
Initial letters introduce beginnings- traditionally the beginning of chapters in a book. Today, they can be
found introducing new parts of a brochure, sections of training manuals, the main copy in advertisements, products in a catalog, or even articles in a newsletter-just about any place where a spot of beauty and a little
emphasis helps the communication process. Initial letters are normally capitals (but the don't have to be), in a different typeface than the surrounding text copy (although this isn't necessary either. Some initials
are highly decorative, others are Shaker-simple. Initials can be created from your existing fonts, or purchased as fancy sets. There are no rules for choosing initials, except appropriateness. Very fancy initials are
normally out of place in a business document. Historically, the oldest form of initial letter is the drop-cap. A drop-cap is set within the copy; that is, the top of it is not higher than the top of the first line of
the text. The second style is the raised initial. A raised initial rests on the baseline of the first line of copy; the top of it is above the top line of the text block.
How to set initial letters
The best way to set initial letter depends on which kind you're using. A dropped initial should fit snugly within the surrounding copy. The top of the initial should optically with the
top of the opening word or words of text copy (typically, this would be the x-height of the lowercase letters). When the words that follow the initial letter are set in small caps, align the top of the initial to the
top of the small cap letters. Tip: When the first word following an initial letter has only one or two letters, use small capitals for the second word as well. This will help smooth the transaction from initial letter
to lowercase text.
- Optical alignment
simply means that the letters look aligned to the eye. To achieve this, you'll have to do some fine-tuning. For example, if the initial is a letter that has a sharp point on top, or apex,
such as a capital A, the apex must be slightly higher than the top of the following letters to achieve an optical alignment. The same principle holds true for letters that drop below the mechanical baseline,
like V, W, O, and C. These letters should be placed slightly below the lines they appear to align with.
- Dropped
initial letters should also dovetail closely with the text copy which abuts them. With most letters, this means that the lines of text copy are aligned vertically with just enough indent to provide
snug spacing between the initial and the lines of copy. (Almost always, this gap should be less than the line spacing.)
- Letters with irregular right sides
, however, like A, L, R, or even E, will require special handling. Set the first line of the paragraph close to the capital letter, then range the succeeding lines with the
right side of the capital's body.
- Raised initials
are easier to set than drop-caps. Raised initials should sit on the same baseline as the first line of text. The space between the capital and the letters that follow should be adjusted to
insure even spacing and good typographic color. Tip: When using raised initials, don't let the increased point size of the first letter create extra spacing between the first and second lines of text.
More tips for setting initial letters
Remember, the key to correctly aligning letters is the same as for all other typographic arrangements: it's got to look good. Typeface designs
differ dramatically, so what works for one letter in one font may not work for the same letter in another font. Here are more tips for setting eye-catching initials. Sometimes initial letters are housed in handy
decorative boxes. When you use these kids of initials, the space on the right of the box should be optically the same as the text line space. If a quotation mark must be set preceding the initial, it should be sized
somewhere between the initial; size and the point size of the text copy. In some cases the open quotation mark can be eliminated altogether (but keep the close quote in the body copy). The traditional rule is that
initial letters are not used with body copy that's set in sans serif type-but we all know what rules are made for! Summary and fine-points
Some initials are highly
decorative, others are Shaker-simple. Initials can be created from your existing fonts, or purchased as fancy sets. There are no rules for choosing initials, except appropriateness.
- A drop-cap is set within the body; that is, the top of it is not higher than the top of the first line of the text.
- A raised initial rests on the baseline of the first line of copy; the top of it is above the top line of the text block.
- Letters with irregular sides require special handling. Set the first line close to the initial, then range succeeding lines with the right side of the capital.
- If the initial has a sharp point on top (or bottom), the apex should be set slightly higher (or lower) to look optically aligned.
- Sometimes initials are housed in decorative boxes. When you use these kinds of initials, the space on the right of the box should be optically the same as the text line space.
- If a quotation mark must be set preceeding the initial, it should be sized somewhere between the initial size and the point size of the text copy. Or, the opening quote can be omitted.
Allan Haley is the author of numerous books, including Typographic Milestones, and is a frequent contributor to publications like How and Dynamic Graphics. He was instrumental in the digital rebirth of numerous
classic typefaces, such as Bodoni. |
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